[Wild] vS Data Reaper Report #11

A monthly Hearthstone Wild Meta Report based on data from over 75,000 games.

Welcome back to the Wild vS Data Reaper Report! We’re the experts from r/WildHearthstone, and we have partnered with Vicious Syndicate to create the Wild Data Reaper Report. We will be contributing the write-ups and analysis for the report, backed up by the statistics that Vicious Syndicate has become famous for. The data presented in this article is based on 75,000 games.

We’re excited to bring you the 11th edition of the Data Reaper Report for the Wild format and the last report before Dr. Boom and his Boomsday Project shake up our meta. The meta is much more refined than it was in the last report and there is less experimentation going around. The meta has adjusted to the former oppressive decks and we’re looking at potentially one of the healthiest meta’s we have had in a long time for the Wild format.

Before we move on deeper into the report, we encourage you to contribute your data, especially in a new expansion season. The more games that you submit, the more data we receive, which allows us to produce a more comprehensive meta report.

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Class/Archetype Distribution

We continue to see a massive amount of Shaman as it takes up over 20% of the total class representation from rank 4 to legend. Alarmingly, that’s almost all Even Shaman. A few Shudderwock decks round out the class.

There has been a massive uptick in play of Rogue, going from the 7th most played class in our last report to the 2nd most played class at all levels of play. Odd Rogue has shot way up in play and has become the main aggressive deck in the format, while Kingsbane remains a very reliable counter to the myriad of greedy control decks that have popped up without giants decks to keep them in check.

Warlock continues to see high play rates with Renolock established as one of the most popular decks in the game. Other archetypes of Warlock that see some play are: Cube, Even, and wild takes on Zoo.

Priests are fairly popular, with Big Priest making up the bulk of the class. Reno Priest has seen a bit of resurgence at higher levels of play as a powerful counter to Even Shaman.

Paladin has solidified behind one primary archetype, a stark contrast of its old days of “Tier Paladin”. Odd Paladin sees the most play, with Aggro Paladin and Murloc Paladin displaying modest representation.

Druid has fallen to the 7th most played class, likely due to its struggles against Even Shaman, Big Priest and Kingsbane Rogue, as well as the tech available to slower decks to disrupt its late game plans.

Rexxar and Garrosh are still looking for some help in wild. The resurgence of Hunter in Standard coupled with the success of Dane’s Reno Hunter in recent tournaments has resulted in some experimentation with the class, but not too much success. Warrior still has Pirate Warrior as the only relevant archetype.

vS Meta Score

With Even Shaman hitting 18% of the meta at the 4-L bracket, you’d expect the Wild meta to adjust – and so it has. 4 out of our top 5 decks in this bracket have fair or good matchups against Even Shaman. The only one that doesn’t happens to be the most powerful of the group – Odd Paladin.

While Odd Paladin may struggle against Big Priest, Renolock, and Even Shaman, it has great odds against almost everything else. Odd Rogue isn’t far behind, as the premiere aggressive deck in the format due to its ability to muscle out slow decks and go toe-to-toe with Even Shaman. Renolock continues to see large amounts of successful play while Jade Druid and Big Priest are also well situated, as they are able to compete with the tempo focused decks while wielding massive late-game power.

Tier 2 is where you may be seeing some surprises at rank 4 to legend. Even Warlock sits at the top of Tier 2 with favorable matchups against Odd Paladin, Even Shaman, and Renolock with the many defensive tools and threats at its disposal.

Tier 2 is also where, now that the meta has settled down, we finally see Even Shaman. While obviously still very powerful, displaying a strong win rate despite being heavily targeted, the Wild meta has successfully held it accountable for its high prevalence. It is particularly effective against Odd Paladin.

Pirate Warrior continues to be a competitive option in the format. You can’t keep a good whatever-Patches-is down, as it were. In probably the biggest surprise of Tier 2, we see the continued presence of Reno Priest. With strong matchups into Paladin, Even Shaman, and Renolock, the deck that many wrote off with the Raza nerfs has made a strong case to not be slept on.

Tier 3 is a set of decks with many polarizing matchups, weaknesses to common tech cards, or just many weaker matchups. This tier includes many former top meta decks such as Aluneth Mage, combo Druid decks in Malygos and Togwaggle, Combo Priest, Kingsbane Rogue, Secret Hunter and Cube Warlock.

With a diverse pool of decks in the top 3 tiers, we can confidently say that the format has a very healthy meta moving into The Boomsday Project, and we’re looking forward to seeing what changes these new cards bring.

Class Analysis & Decklists

Druid has generally dropped in its performance and popularity in Wild ladder. As Kingsbane Rogue and Big Priest waxed, Druid has waned. The primary Druid archetypes are also suffering from common techs in slower matchups that hurt their ability to execute their game plans: Dirty Rat, Deathlord and Skulking Geist are commonly seen in Reno decks, for example.

In the tournament scene, however, Druid is rocking. In the Top 8 of Team One Trick’s Wild Ladder Challenge Tournament, Druid boasted a shocking 88% win rate, the highest of any class! In this report, we are featuring xxFroBro45xx’s Jade Druid and Dean’s Togwaggle Druid list – they placed 1st and 2nd respectively in Team One Trick’s tournament. Although Malygos Druid is one of the best decks in Standard right now, it struggles in Wild due to the increased speed of the meta, previously mentioned techs, as well as Loatheb.

Hunter is largely the same from the last report, being not particularly widely played, despite its most successful archetype, Secret Hunter, having a respectable win rate across most ranks. There has been a slight increase in Recruit Kathrena builds following experimentation in standard.

Secret Hunter remains in a similar position from last month, with Applecat’s list continuing to lead to high legend success. DannyDonut piloted the list to top 10 legend earlier in the month. In the Asian ladder, Yuma9420 managed to find success with a more aggressive list that cuts the Kathrena package, putting in burst finishers like Leeroy and Kill Commands instead.

Spell Hunter is not the most consistent ladder deck, but can find success on the back of the incredibly powerful Emerald Spellstone and Barnes/Y’Shaarj high rolls. EU server player Romulus was able to pilot his build to high legend, with the interesting inclusion of a single-copy of To My Side!

Since last month, Reno Deathrattle Hunter has continued to see play and experimentation. Most recently, GetMeowth enjoyed a successful streak to Top 100 Legend using a version of the deck which included the old-school buddy-cop cool of Feugen and Stalagg. Reno Hunter can be a surprisingly effective archetype, and is incredibly flexible and fun to play.

Last but not least we have Recruit Hunter. While Kathrena was first used successfully in Wild in Secret Hunter, she has since become a build around card for an archetype in Standard. Some of that experimentation has trickled back to Wild. The list featured by Duwinddk was used to climb through ranks 5-L in the EU server with a respectable win rate, and uses Seeping Oozeling to great effect, pulling potent threats such as Ragnaros.

Mage maintains a very similar position in the meta since the last report. The main archetypes seeing play are mostly used to counter specific decks. At lower ranks, Aluneth Mage still sees much success and enjoys a Tier 1 win rate, but as you approach Legend, it drops to Tier 3 while Reno and Exodia stay in Tier 4.

Aluneth Mage is the hardest counter available to Kingsbane Rogue, but loses board too often and too early to other aggressive decks. The featured list runs Primordial Glyph, which is an extra hedge for burn against slower decks.

Reno Mage is a decent option against aggressive archetypes, but unfortunately can’t hack the pressure from other control decks in the meta without specific tech choices. The deck struggles against Renolock without more late game tools, and needs Skulking Geist to beat Druid.

Exodia Mage is a counter to slower decks, but is currently one-upped by the popular Kingsbane Rogue in that niche, which is more consistent and less vulnerable to Dirty Rat. Exodia Mage is not too happy with the current meta standings and lands squarely in Tier 4.

Odd Paladin sits at the top of Tier 1. Secret Paladin has vanished from play again. The bots have dragged Aggro (Breakfast) Paladin down to Tier 4, and Murloc Paladin again shows up at the margins of competitive play.

Odd Paladin experimentation continues. Sinyaev hit #1 Legend EU with a build running 2 Ironbeak Owls, and there’s a lot of different 1-drops making their way into the deck, like the two copies of Lowly Squire taken by Asia server player Flauros97 to #4 Legend. As the deck with the highest win rate from 4-Legend, Odd Paladin is a great place to be on ladder, however traditionally or cutely you build it.

Aggro Paladin, sometimes called Breakfast Paladin, has the same data problems as it did last month; it’s the deck of choice for bot accounts based on its low price and linear play, but they’re usually worse than human players, so the data implies the deck is worse than it actually is. The archetype makes up 2.5% of the meta from 4-Legend, and many players have hit legend with it, so it’s not to be underestimated. Bananaramic brought a slight twist on the traditional Aggro Paladin build and managed to reach the top 8 in the One Trick tournament.

Murloc Paladin continues to see no innovation and no high finishes. The former Standard powerhouse just doesn’t have enough recovery tools to play with the big boys in Wild. The cards are individually strong, and the tempo of the deck’s best starts is undeniable, but it’s a poor choice if you want to hit legend.

Not much has changed for Priest since the last report. The class is about as popular as before, but it’s been eclipsed by a surge of interest in Rogue, dropping Priest to the 3rd most popular class in Wild.

Big Priest continues to stand as the top archetype for the class, checking in at the bottom half of Tier 1. The list we’ve seen in past reports remains a solid option, but some players have inexplicably chosen to remove Barnes from their deck. It’s unlikely that the exclusion is an improvement for the deck, even if it eliminates Shadow Essence whiffs. Nevertheless, ShockiiGodx made his way to an early rank 1 Legend on the NA server with the list featured below. Even if the choice to cut Barnes is questionable, some of the other changes to the typical build may warrant consideration.

The biggest shift within Priest was an uptick in the popularity and relative strength of Combo Priest. Last report, the deck barely registered; only appearing in our low sample Tier estimates. Now, with a larger sample of games for the archetype, it falls into the middle of Tier 3 at 4-L. This may, in part, be due to players opting for the dragon package more frequently than in the past. With the inclusion of dragons, Combo Priest can clean up early game minions better, shoring up one of its past weaknesses. The list featured in this report was piloted to rank 4 legend on the Asia server by RenoJackson late last month. In addition to Duskbreaker, Psychic Scream offers an often-necessary reset button when the board gets too far out of hand.

Reno Priest remains a solid answer to the current state of the meta, despite appearing to be a messy archetype as players struggle to agree on the optimal build. Even with the wide range of Reno Priest variants that players are queuing up, the deck remains a low Tier 2 deck, which may account for the archetype’s slight increase in popularity. It seems that no matter the flavor, Reno Priest just beats several popular Wild decks right now. Many high-Legend players tend to favor the combo-oriented builds, as featured in this report.

Finally, the play rate of Dragon Priest decreased slightly since last report. Recently, players seem to be taking our past (not-so-subtle) hints into consideration and are moving away from Spiteful builds. Instead, more Midrange/Control lists are becoming common. With this shift, Dragon Priest appears to be performing better, bumping up a Tier in our estimates. The deck certainly has potential, as demonstrated by DannyDonuts, who took the deck to rank 3 legend on NA in July.

Rogue is still on the up in Witchwood. Rising from the middle of the pack to second place would make anyone jealous. While traditional Rogue archetypes like old school tempo and miracle are still as dead as ever, Odd Rogue and Kingsbane are forces to be reckoned with in the late Witchwood meta. The difference in the matchup spread for these two archetypes is interesting; if one is weak against a deck, the other is strong. They are yin and yang of the same coin, and nobody knows how to mulligan against them, either. Odd Paladin is the best deck with a strong matchup against either Rogue archetype.

Odd Rogue is the highest win-rate deck in the game overall. It is amazing how much the class has turned around from being all but forgotten in Wild to the top of the Power Rankings in a matter of months. Not much has changed in terms of lists; the deck still uses the strong early game pirate package to gain early board, and midgame swing cards such as Vilespine and Fungalmancer to seal the game. The only notable changes to lists in recent weeks is some players opting to cut their SI:7 agents for tech cards like Void Ripper. SI:7 can be awkward in the deck due to the lack of 0 cost spells and void ripper is good in the current meta for destroying totems and getting through Spreading Plagues. Both the lists featured this week were played to top 8 finishes at the Team One Trick Wild Ladder Challenge Finals.

Kingsbane Rogue, while not being as dominant in the meta as Odd Rogue, isn’t a slouch. Although the win rate hasn’t improved much (the deck still sits in Tier 3), the steady growth in play has made Kingsbane Rogue a major player in the meta. The fall of Druid’s popularity could be a result of Kingsbane Rogue’s growth, especially at high ranks. Lists haven’t changed much recently, but players at high ranks seem to have settled the question of tech slots: double Evasion and one Gang Up are becoming more common.

Even Shaman is the most prevalent deck with a respectable win rate sitting in the middle of Tier 2. It’s a midrange deck that can summon hot beef ahead of the curve, thanks to overload and the cost-reducing heavy hitters. In this report, we highlight a few variants of the archetype, including one that placed well in the recent Team One Trick Wild Ladder Challenge Finals, even with many lineups brought trying to counter the deck.

Shudderwock Shaman might be extremely relevant in Standard, but it’s struggling to make an impact in Wild. Many people are still experimenting with a variety of lists and win conditions, looking for a shell that can handle both the aggression on ladder and tech cards like Dirty Rat and Deathlord. As far as win conditions go, some people are continuing to try the OTK list with Lifedrinkers akin to Standard, while other lists are relying on Jades and the effect of Loatheb combined with Shudderwocks to create a large, unremovable board.

Aggro Shaman continues to see play by the dedicated few. With more explosive openings and the potential surprise factor, Aggro Shaman can take a few wins. However, its inability to win and keep the board hold back the deck from being anywhere near one of the top decks in the meta.

It’s a beautiful time to be a Renolock player, with the deck back to being one of the most feared and powerful decks in the meta. There are still a variety of builds, exhibiting the flexibility of the deck, allowing you to adapt to whatever you might be seeing. The power and value generation of many of the cards in Renolock allow it to compete with the slow control decks prevalent in the meta as well. Again, we provide a few different lists as starting points, but feel free to adjust your deck to fit your meta and your playstyle. Just don’t cut the removal package!

Even Warlock has seen a massive uptick in play as the deck has become more refined in Wild. Strong matchups against Odd Paladin, Even Shaman, and Renolock have buoyed it to Tier 2 and a respectable showing in the meta. The ditching of many suboptimal demons that were trying to support Bloodreaver Gul’dan has allowed for fitting in either more threats or more anti-aggro tools.

Cube Warlock continues to see play, both as a counter to slower control decks and as a surprise factor. The nerfs to Lackey and Dark Pact have pushed Cubelock to become an anti-control deck with the lack of consistent anti-aggro tools. Therefore, we’re seeing many lists running Skull of the Man’ari as well as double Doomguard.

The resurgence of Zoolock in Standard has obviously caused an uptick in the deck in Wild as well. The additional Wild tools such as Imp Gang Boss, Voidcaller, and Loatheb increase the power level of the deck a bit, but not enough for it to be successful in a more powerful format.

Warrior is the least played class in the meta, yet again. Poor Garrosh. Like a good neighbor, though, Pirate Warrior is there. Now that the meta has settled down, and silence is less useful, many lists have opted to cut one Spellbreaker in favor of an Arcanite Reaper.

Control Warrior and Taunt Warrior are continuing to see very little play, probably for good reason. Control Warrior just can’t compete with the value generation of Wild’s other control decks, or play the resource exhaustion game as well as Kingsbane Rogue. Taunt Warrior makes a little more sense to play, but the hero power just isn’t strong enough to warrant seeing much play in Wild. Play these decks if you enjoy them but don’t expect to climb too far. Despite this pessimism, there are some interesting takes on slower Warrior decks that seem unexplored. We are highlighting Mill and Recruit Warrior lists in this report.

Patron Warrior is a deck that many consider a blast from the past, but it could also potentially find a place in the meta as a strong answer to Odd Paladins, due to its multiple whirlwind effects.

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Contributors

Here are all the people that participated in bringing you this edition of the [Wild] vS Data Reaper Report: